Prototype "Simplified" FTL Piloting and Astrogation Rules

Here is my idea for simple Astrogation/FTL piloting:

FTL Operations

Making an FTL hyperspace jump requires two steps: Plotting a course, and following the course.

Plotting an FTL jump uses the Astrogation skill. This is the job of the Astrogator. The difficulty of the task depends on the quality of the computer being used (or lack thereof), what type of jump is being made (in terms of the jump’s beginning and end points), the distance covered by the jump and other factors. All these factors will determine the TN of how difficult it would be for the astrogator to plot the course at a moment’s notice. The more time the astrogator spends plotting the course, the more likely it is to be accurate.

Often, the crew will not be under any time constraints, and the astrogator can take as much time as they need to plot a safe, accurate course. Other times, however, the crew may be under the gun; chasing down a foe, escaping the authorities or some cosmic catastrophe. The astrogator may not have all the time in the universe to get the TN down to “safe” levels. They may just have to do the best job they can in the time allowed and take their chances.

When the course is laid in, the pilot must make a run up to light speed and perform the FTL transition when the ship hits 300 LS (light speed). During the flight, he will also need to follow the virtual beacons programmed by the astrogator, and make course corrections as the flight path is followed. Though the pilot(s) will have plenty to keep them busy during the journey, these numerous tweaks and checks are taken care of in one aggregate FTL piloting skill check to determine how well the pilot followed the course.

A well-laid course is not too difficult for a competent pilot to follow successfully. Things get tricky when the astrogator has made errors, or the pilot is attempting fancy maneuvers, and because of the differences between planning the trip and making it, the consequences for failure will differ if one part or the other is less than accurate.

For both the Astrogation check and the Piloting check, the primary character making the attempt may utilize skill assistance from other qualified characters. See the skills section for more information about assisting with skills.

Astrogation

The base TN for plotting a course is 13. Subtract the skill level of the Astrogator. Add to that any course and distance modifiers to determine the final TN. This is the TN of plotting an accurate course if the Astrogator was to plug it into the computer with minimal prep time of 1 round (5 minutes). For even a highly skilled astrogator, this would make even the safest plots chancy at best, so it is best to take some time, use the ship’s computer and dial things in.

Each round spent adjusting the plot will decrease the TN by one up to the Mk level of the ship’s computer. If the ship has a Mk VI computer, for example, the astrogator can spend up to six rounds (30 minutes) adjusting the plot and reduce the TN by 6. Once the level of the ship’s computer is reached, the astrogator can continue to make adjustments, however these are slower, decreasing the TN by one for every 2 rounds spent. If the astrogator is making a plot “by hand,” without the processing power of a multicomp, the process is significantly slower, allowing the astrogator to decrease the TN by 1 for every hour spent working.

Modifiers

TN	Modifier
+0	Within sector, established space lane
+2	Within sector, FTL backroads
+4	Sector center to sector center
+6	Star system to deep space/deep space to star system
+8	Deep space to deep space
+1	Each 100 LY plotted
+1	Each maintenance counter on the following systems: Computers, Powerplant or FTL drives
-1	Made a jump from this system
-1	Made a jump to the target system
-1 to -5	Pre-plotted course assistance
+0-10	Tonnage of vessel (+0 up to 1000 tons, add +1 every time tonnage is doubled; +1 up to 2000 tons, +2 @4000, +3 @8000, etc.

If there are no time constraints in place, one can assume a TN of 3 for the Astrogation check. The astrogator has as much time as he needs to make the plot as safe and accurate as possible.

Course Results

When the TN is determined and the crew is ready to make the FTL jump, the check for astrogation is made at the same time as the FTL piloting check. This is because the astrogator and the pilot cannot know how accurate the plot is until the course is laid in and the jump is being made. (One notable exception: if the astrogator tries to produce a course too quickly, i.e., doesn't allow enough time for the plot, the pilot might declare a lack of faith in it and refuse to jump using the course given to him. This would have to be declared before the Astrogation check is actually made. The pilot would know the general time frame it would take to make a safe plot for a course; if the astrogator wants to hand the pilot a course with a TN of 21 after spending one round plotting the course, the pilot can refuse to jump knowing the FTL drives would probably break down if he attempted the jump!) Once the transition to FTL is made, the entire trip is blind and flown according to the plot. A good course by the astrogator can make the pilots job a bit easier, but any mistakes on the astrogator’s part can make things exceedingly dicey for the pilot.

If the astrogation check is successful, there are no modifiers to the piloting check. This part of the cruise goes off without a hitch. For each bump to the astrogation check, subtract 1 from the TN of the piloting check; this reflects care by the astrogator to plant particularly helpful virtual beacons and account for real-space gravitational anomalies that could disrupt the pilot during tachyon maneuvers. However, for each point the TN is missed, the piloting check is increased by one. Small errors in plotting can make things much harder for the pilot. Additionally, refer to the scale below to see what other negative consequences occur as a result of an inaccurate FTL plot. Add the step number of the card to the number by which the Astrogation TN failed.

Failure	Consequence
0-3	No effect; rough trip for the pilot
4	Increased FTL emergence anomaly (anomaly appears additional 1 round/step of card)
5	Increased fuel cost (-5% to efficiency/step of the card)
6	Decreased Speed (-1 LY per day/Step of the card)
7	FTL drive maintenance counter
8+	Large scale emergence deviation

FTL Piloting

Assuming a correctly plotted course and no fancy maneuvers, the TN of an FTL piloting check is 5.

TN	Modifier
+1	Each number by which Astrogation check failed
-1	Each bump to the Astrogation check
+1	Jump in excess of 1000 LY
+1-4	Narrow jump window
Var	Transition/emergence point is within jump envelope
+1	Each level of FTL signature masking

Piloting Results

When the astrogation check has been made, add those modifiers to the piloting TN and make that check. If the piloting check is successful, the ship’s voyage through FTL will go as planned, and the ship will emerge at the intended target location within the distance allowed for tachyon drift, which is usually no more than a few hundred light seconds. Keep in mind that the course given to the pilot may have been incorrect; a successful piloting roll will simply deliver the ship to the indicated coordinates in real-space. For each point the piloting TN is missed, refer to the scale below to see what other negative consequences occur as a result of pilot error. Add the step number of the card to the number by which the FTL piloting TN failed.

Failure	Consequence
0-3	No effect
4	Increased FTL signature (-1 to sensor trace TN/step of card)
5	Small scale emergence deviation
6	Transition failure: Maintain speed, check for FTL drive breakdown
7	Anomaly drive failure: Speed drops to 0 LS, check for TISA drive breakdown
8+	FTL drive stress: Add 1 maintenance token to FTL drive system, +1 for each point greater than 5.

Each bump to the piloting roll can reduce the consequences of a failed astrogation roll by one level. This is a reflection of some highly skilled, on-the-fly course corrections despite the virtual beacons indicating the hyperspace path the pilot should follow. A lucky or skilled pilot can sometimes overcome errors made during astrogation.

Emergence Deviation

There will always be some degree of deviation from the plotted course when a vessel travels through tachyon hyperspace. If things go well, this deviation is minimal. If not, then the ship can wind up wildly off course.

Tachyon Drift

When travelling among the stars using tachyon hyperspace, there will always be variables for which no one can account. Even if a ship makes the exact same jump from the exact same place using the same plot, minute variances that the pilot made during the trip and the flow of tachyon space will place the emergence point off by a (relatively) small amount. This is known as tachyon drift, and it usually means nothing. If you need to determine the tachyon drift, take the step number from the card for the piloting check and multiply it by the impulse number from the astrogation check. Use the scatter element to determine deviation from target, if necessary.

One can attempt to narrow the jump window to make the emergence point more precise. Each +1 added to the piloting TN for narrowing the jump window will subtract 1 from the step multiplier above. If the step is zero or less, the ship will emerge within 1 LS of the target.

Small Scale Deviation

This comes as a result of a failed FTL piloting check. Over the course of the journey, the pilot has made mistakes that will cause the vessel to emerge a short distance away from the target. A successful FTL jump will deposit the vessel at the edge of a system’s jump envelope. When a small scale deviation occurs, consult the step of the card and multiply that by the size of the jump envelope. This is the number of LS away from the system’s star the ship comes out of FTL. If jumping into deep space (where there is no local gravity well to act as an anchor point, the multiplier is 5000 LS.

It may be faster in some cases to perform another small FTL jump to close the distance, but keep in mind that jumping even this far from a gravity well would be considered a jump from “deep space.”

Large Scale Deviation

These come from errors in the FTL course plot made by the astrogator. A large scale deviation will place the emergence point light years off the mark. When the astrogation check is failed by 5, consult the step of the card (x). For every 100 LY traveled, the emergence point will be off by x light years. If the astrogation check fails by more than 5, the deviation is even greater. Failing by 6, the emergence point will be off by 2(x) LY/100 LY traveled; 7 would be 3(x) LY/100 traveled, and so on.

Lost in Space

If the astrogation check and the piloting check call for emergence deviation and the FTL drives fail a breakdown check, or if both the astrogation and piloting checks are CF results, the vessel may become lost in space. This may result in a spontaneous adventure to get the crew back on track, so the Master should have something prepared if he wishes to deal with this possibility. If the crew does not wish to deal with being lost in space, each player may spend a story chip to avoid being lost in space.

Jump Envelope

As previously mentioned, a successful jump will place the vessel at the edge of a system’s jump envelope. Jumps out of or in to a jump envelope can be attempted, but they are exceedingly difficult and carry a great risk of damage to the FTL drives (and in most colonized star systems, it is highly illegal). For every +2 to the FTL piloting TN, the jump envelope can be halved. For a main sequence star, the jump envelope is 10,000 LS. A piloting TN of +2 would allow you to jump in or out at a distance of 5,000 LS from the system center. A TN of +4 would allow you to jump at 2,500 LS and so on. These penalties are cumulative for jumping in and out; jumping out within one envelope at a +2 TN to a destination within another at a +4 TN would have a total penalty of +6 to the FTL piloting TN. Good luck, and don’t burn out your drives.